Pay Comparisons

continued

For cities of 100,000 to 250,000 in the North Central states, city administrator salaries recently had a median of $154,000, while the median chief elected official salary was $39,000. A 2005 study of forty-seven cities with council-manager governments and populations between 100,000 and 250,000 found the average council salary was $18,000.

Ann Arbor administrator Roger Fraser is paid $145,356 a year. Mayor John Hieftje makes $42,435 a year, and council members get $15,514. Hieftje has called on elected officials to take a 3 percent pay cut, but that's up to the city compensation commission, which won't meet until 2011. In the meantime, Hieftje and many council members are donating 3 percent of their pay back to the city.

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[Originally published in February, 2010.]